What a week!

Well, I told you this week would be very intense! I'm glad I'm on sick-leave, as I'm not sure I would have found the energy to participate in all the knitting meetings I've been to this week. But it's been fun, and I've gotten pretty much done! I'm done with the incredibly boring leg-warmers, but I haven't even bothered to take a photo of them as they are only two brown, ribbed tubes. They look ok though, and I think they will be exactly what my mother asked for, so I'm ok with them anyway. She'll get them next weekend when we celebrate my grandmother's 70th birthday (she'll probably not get them at the actual party though...).

I've also knitted a lot on the pink candle flame shawl, and let me tell you: This yarn is PINK! I love it though, and I think I've used up about 1/3 of the skein. I haven't taken any new photos of it yet, I think you'll have to wait until it's finished. But as it's knitted from the tip up it's getting wider with every row, so it takes a little while now. I haven't counted the stitches for a while but I'm guerssing somewhere around 150 now. And I don't want to stop until I reach at least 400. It's a great pattern that you can choose to end almost whenever you like, and I had it memorized after two repeats so it works pretty fast too. It's just that the yarn is so thin so it doesn't grow as fast as I think it should :) Oh, and Kate asked me in the comments what I think about working with beads? I love it! I found a site somewhere online, I can't for the life of me remember where, that described how you put beads in as you knit, so you don't have to do the pre-threading. As I can't find the page, I thought I would show you how I do it. The method I found uses a small-gauge crochet hook, but I use a needle threader instead.

Ok, you start by putting the bead onto the needle threader, like this:

It's a little hard to see the actual threader wire, as they are so small, but there is a metal loop coming out of the bead, I promise. You then take your stitch where you want your bead, and lift it with your fingers off the needle:

It's easiset to place a bead on the sticht you've just worked, as it is loose enough then to givve the loop a tug to make sure you don't drop it. I know that some times when I worked the purpple giant shawl I forgot to put some beads in and had to do it on the next row before I knitted that stitch on the wrong side. It is possible, but a little trickier as the stitch then is surrounded by other stitches and doesn't have as much give.

Anyhow, when you've got your stitch between your fingers, you put the loop in the threader and pull it through the bead, as so:

This will give you a stitch with the bead at the bottom:

You then just put the stitch back onto your needle, with the bead below the needle, and continue knitting:

Don't you love my Zephyr needles? I think this is a great method, as you can use beads with very small holes in them. Just make sure that the hole is large enough to admit a double-folded stitch (that is, four strands of the yarn together) through, as this is what happens when you do the pulling of the yarn. If you use a crochet hook instead, the stitch won't have to be folded as you can place the hook into the stitch loop. The problem for me with crochet hooks is that I don't own any small enough to use for this, as I have found some pretty small beads. I hope you got the explanation anyhow, and have fun knitting with beads!

Back to the rest of my knitting: I've not worked much on the Lettuce coat, as it's getting a bit too bulky to take with me to the meetings. It's looking great though, and I love the striping of this yarn. I can't wait to show it to you when I model it! It needs to get a bit longer first though. The finishing of it includes two I-cord edgings on the front, and I can't do these until the length is finished. And thus the coat doesn't really close yet, as it's going to get a little bit wider too. And I think I'll need to block it a few cm as well, but that shouldn't be a problem. And I have to get some buttons for it too! I'm thinking something in brown or possibly black, large buttons on the front and smaller ones on the cuffs. Oh, I think I'll have to work on it some right now, I'm getting very motivated!

And the gloves are hibernating for a while, as I've managed to break two of my size 2 mm Harmony needles while making these! I think I'll invest in some metal ones instead in this tiny size, as I seem to be knitting very tightly... Maybe I'll bend those instead? I've ordered some 10 cm glove needles (that is, they are short, not a huge circumference...) in the KnitPicks order, which I hope will arrive some time next week, so I'll use those for a start to finish the first glove. I'm not sure that those will be long enough to do the whole hand of the next glove though, so I guess I'll have to decide which to buy before I make that one.

Oh, and today I got to see one of my very best friends, Klara, get her doctor's hat! The university has a great, pompous cermony for this two times a year, when all the PhD students that have finished get their diplomas and their hats. The participants have to wear really formal clothes, like ball gowns and dress suits (you know, the ones that makes the men look like penguins :), and it was a really beautiful cermony. I'm just glad I as an audience member didn't have to dress up like that, as the only really formal wear I own is my wedding gown! And I don't think I could've fitted into that if my life depended on it, as I've gained about 10 kg since my wedding, due to the anti-depressants... Klara moved to Liverpool in Great Britain in October this year to start her post doc, and I miss her a lot, so it was so much fun to see her. We got to speak a little while to her after the ceremony which was so much fun! We are four girls from work who've spent a lot of time together during the years we've worked there, and now Klara has moved, and in April Jenny (not me, another Jenny) will move to Amsterdam in the Netherlands to do her post doc there. I guess this is only natural when hanging out with PhD student, but it sucks anyway. At least they are both staying in Europe, so it's possible to visit some times at least. Anyhow it was great to see Klara again, and we've decided to meet again when she comes home for Christmas again.

Now I'll dig out the Lettuce coat from the yarn stash bag, and do some knitting before I go to sleep!

/ Jenny

Home again

After two days in Borås at our parents' we are back in Linköping again. My best friends son was baptised yesterday, and me and Thomas were godparents. The boy's name is Alex, and Thomas suggested that we gifted him with the Godfather DVD box... Maybe when he turns 15! We gave him a miney collecting thingy shaped like a car, with wheels that actually spin. Hopefully he can both play with it and save money in it. And I have to tell you that I am so proud to be a godmother! It feels like such an honour, which we gladly accepted. The baptism service was beautiful, even though the local mens choir was there to sing. They consisted of about ten old men, all over 70 years old, and they sang more gladly than good, if you get my drift. But otherwise it was nice, and the priest was very good too. And the two older brothers of Alex, Leo, 4 and Lucas, 7, behaved perfectly. I think they thought it was kind of fun actually.

So I haven't gotten much knitting done this weekend, but I've finally managed to to take some photos of my current projects. First, the Lettuce Coat from the Custom Knits book. It's turning out great, even though it's a bit short yet, but I'm getting there. Unfortunately I'm running out of this yarn too, but this is at least available here in my LYS (local yarn shop, for those of you who don't hang out a lot at Ravelry...). I think I might have to go get some this week! Hopefully it won't be too expensive. I don't consider this a breach of my yarn diet, as it is yarn needed to finsih an ongoing project. Right? Anyhow, the coat/cardigan is turning out great, I love the stripes this yarn is making! And have I mentioned I love green?

I'm also working on the cabled gloves, they're called Kingdom gloves, from Knitty.com. It's hard to show the cables in a flash photo, especially since they're done with just one stitch each and pretty thin, but I'm really liking them. Or it, so far, as I'm only almost done with the first one. They are done on 2 mm needles, so they take a while, but they're coming along as well.

Finally I'm also working on the very boring leg warmers for my mother. They are done i a 2x2 rib, and in a very chuny yarn, so they should be done by the weekend. We're going back to Borås on the 20th of November, as my grandmother is turning 70 that day, and I'm planning on giving them to mom then. They're not much to look at, but I think they are exactly what mom asked for so I think she'll be pleased.

And for those of you who are dying to know more about the depression (there might be some whining ahead, so beware!), I went to see the councellor this past Friday. She thought that it might be a good idea to put me on sick leave for a while, but if you are away for more than a week you need a doctor's signature, sort of. And as the councellor is not a physician, I'm currently waiting for my regular doctor to call me so we can fix this. I'm staying at home this week without the signed certificate (which I'm entitled to), and then we'll see what happens. For me, this is a good thing, as I don't have to think about work now for at least a week! And just think about all the knitting I'm going to get done :) Hopefully I can stay at home long enough to feel better too, as I'm fairly certain that a big part of my depression is due to me working way too much these last three years.

I'm thinking of starting a new project tonight as well, as I'm missing lace knitting a lot. I have some orgeous pink yarn from Garnpaletten that I'm thinking of turning into a Candle flame shawl, which seems like a very easy pattern. We'll see if I do it today or tomorrow. Oh, and tomorrow Anna is coming over for lunch, so we're just going to hang out and talk and knit. It will be so much fun, especially since we didn't really have time to hang out last week. And it's fun to have something to look forward to, too!

Oh, and hopefully I will get some of the yarns I've ordered in the mail some time this week as well, as I'm getting kind of impatient!

/ Jenny

Quick post

I'm actually at work right now, so this will be a rather short update. I haven't got a lot to do right now at work, as I'm sort of between lab projects right now, so I'm doing a lot of reading. It is nice in one way, but it's very hard to stay motivated. Especially since I'm struggling with the damned depression simultaneously, which sort of makes it hard to get out of bed some days. Today was just one of those days, I really had to push myself to get up and have breakfast, and I didn't even manage that until 9.30... But at least I'm at work now, and I'm going to work out with my sister his afternoon too, so I at least get to do something today.

Well, enough whining! Time to tell you about my knitting instead! As I'm at work, I have no new photos today, so I'll just brief you a little about what I've been doing the last week. I told you about the cabled gloves I'm working on, right? I had to frog them down to the cuff the other day, as I noticed that the thumb gusset was way too low. But now I've knitted 2.5 fingers on the first one again, and it actually looks pretty neat. The cables are really crazy, but that was sort of why I chose this pattern in the first place, and I think I'll get a lot of use from them. Hopefully it won't be too cold for them too soon!

The green cardigan/bolero I'm making is hibernating for a while longer. I'm still waiting for the yarn to arrive in the mail, and as there is a postal strike going on i the UK, I'm guessing this could take a while. I'm actually waiting for a lot of yarns in the mail! I've ordered the green one for the cardi from a shop in UK, and I managed to find a woman on Ravelry who was willing to sell me some white KnitPicks Main Line yarn to go with my green skeins! I'm so thrilled about this, as I've been planning to make some coloured items with this. And as KnitPicks seems to have discontinued this yarn, I'm so glad I found some elsewhere!

I also got a chance to order directly from KnitPicks for the first time last week! This company is great, but they don't ship to Europe at all so you sort of have to know someone in the US who can order for you. And a while ago one of my fellow bloggers, Nalamienea who writes the blog The Student Knitter offered to do just that, as she was going to order from them anyway. So me and Anna jumped at this offer, and ordered SO MUCH! And I heard from Nalamienea this weekend that the package had arrived at her place, so she was going to post it for us this week. I'm so excited, and I'll show you lots of pictures of the loot as soon as it gets here! For someone who's on a yarn diet, I'm buying a lot....

I've also finally started the Lettuce coat from the Custom Knits book by Wendy Bernard. I'm knitting it in my gorgeous Sarek yarn from Marks & Kattens, and I've only made the shoulders so far, but I think it will look very good! I love the yarn, it's just perfectly balanced between soft and scratchy wool, and I think I'll wear it a lot. And as I'm planning on using all 10 skeins I have in my stash, this will turn out to be a great stash-buster as well.

This Saturday I went to Anna and saw her apartment and boyfriend for the first time, which was a lot of fun. We ordered pizza and watched the movie Big Fish, and of course did a lot of knitting and talking as well. I managed to pursuade my sister to drive me there and pick me up as well, so I actually got to drink a little wine as well. It was just a super nice evening, and I love the movie. Tim Burton is my all-time favourite director, I love all his movies. I can't wait til Alice in Wonderland comes out next year!

And speaking of movies: I hope you haven't missed the fact that Where the Wild Things Are is coming out as a movie this fall as well?! This is my absolute favourite children's book (It's called Till Vildingarnas Land in Swedish), and I'm dying to see this movie! I've seen the trailer, and it looks fantastic. It's coming to Sweden in late November, so I only have to wait a month now.

Oh, and while I was at Anna's I started yet another knitting project. My mother asked me for brown, ribbed leg-warmers a while ago, and as we were going to watch the movie I figured this would be a perfect TV project. The leg warmers are just 2x2 ribbing, and I could almost make them in my sleep. I'm just worried I don't have enough yarn for them, I'm using an old yarn from my stash from Red Heart, which is 50 % superwash wool and 50 % acrylic. It's the same brand that I used for the cabled, green-blue socks I made a while ago, only this is a solid brown colour. On the other hand I'm going to visit my parents this coming weekend, as we are going to the christening of my best friend's youngest boy (me and Thomas are going to become god-parents!), and I've bought the yarn in Borås super-cheap so I guess I can buy another skein then if I have to.

And this Thursday one of my favourite online yarn stores, Chili Gredelin, had a huge sales on one of their lace yarns! This yarn had been voted on to the top 10 list in the Swedish knitting group Sticka!, and she lowered the prices for just one night to celebrate. I bought 2 skeins of a gorgeous green lace yarn, and I'm hoping it will arrive this week. I'm so excited I've been looking at lace patterns the whole weekend. I'll show you pictures when I get it, I promise. And I know I'm supposed to be on a yarn diet, but I convinced my parents that this would be a great early christmas gift for me, and my mother agreed. So it doesn't count! It's like calories: they don't count if you're cooking for someone else too (or if you eat from someone else's plate...).

I'll leave you with this super-cute photo of Hobbe as a baby, so you have something to enjoy while reading!

/ Jenny